Bruce Sterling knows his nerds, outsiders in real life who are insiders online, alternately diffident and insolent. In his interesting assessment of the Wikileaks diplomatic cable dump, Sterling reminds us that the NSA is staffed with the same cryptography geeks who support WikiLeaks; the difference being one of temperament not kind.
But what begins as a stirring lament on the tragic misunderstandings that can occur when neighboring cultures clash ends as a muddled and sentimental tribute; an apology. Sterling admits he knows many more hackers than he does diplomats but then proceeds to make a sweeping and thoroughly bleak assessment of U.S. diplomacy.
A science fiction writer and essayist, Sterling makes his living trading with tribes who proudly fly the disaffected geek flag – technoculture elites for whom Julian Assange could be the second coming of Che. It’s not surprising, then, that romanticism should trump realism in Sterling’s assessment.
WikiLeaks and/or Assange may have entered the stage in an unconventional fashion (a trapdoor on stage right, perhaps) but once in play they must assume a position in relation to the unfolding narrative of state and state-affiliated powers vying for control over resources present and future.
A coalition, especially a de facto one, is inevitable even if it strikes idealists as impossible or morally reprehensible. There is no outside position in politics.
link to Sterling’s essay via Andy Baio.